


What I'd Give to Let You Love Me

by StephIsInsanity



Category: Rocketman (2019) RPF
Genre: Cuddly boys, Dickie is mischievous as hell, First Time Blow Jobs, Flirting, Friends to Lovers, Hard kisses, I literally didn't want to write this but then Dex had to go and give that interview at GQ, M/M, Masturbation, Public Hand Jobs, Sex in a Car, Slow Burn, Soft Boys, Soft Kisses, T blaming character bleed for his feelings, T is a breezy baby with a praise kink, as Finn would say "its goblin time baby", getting caught, shower shenanigans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-14 23:14:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20608928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StephIsInsanity/pseuds/StephIsInsanity
Summary: Richard and Taron don't find anything weird about their level of intimacy, best mates snog every once in a while.. right?; but everyone around them can't help but notice their gravitational pull towards each other is a bit out of the ordinary.Inspired by Dex's GQ interview where he said that Taron will go along with anything Richard says and that the two can frequently be found whispering together in the corner at parties.





	1. If you got questions, I got answers

**Author's Note:**

> this one is for Finn, Isaac, Arin, Leo, and the rest of our discord server.

It was quite early on in their friendship that Richard realized that he could talk Taron into doing pretty much anything. 

“Ye should take that home, put it in your kitchen.” Richard said during a break, while filming the _ Crocodile Rock _ sequence.

“Do y’reckon they would let me?” Taron asked.

He watched Taron’s face light up with the possibility of being able to take the large neon sign home. Taron got up from his place next to Richard at the mock bar and beelined straight to Dexter. Richard took a sip of his coffee and observed Taron animatedly speaking to their director, Dex shrugged and he could read Taron’s lips saying “really?” and then a huge grin broke out across his face. 

“He said he needs to talk to props but he doesn’t see any reason why I can’t have the sign once we’ve wrapped.” He said triumphantly, returning to his place at Richard’s side.

“Where are ye gonna put a sign that big, T?” 

“In my kitchen over the cabinets.” 

Richard laughed and shook his head, Taron was going to kill him by the end of this project. 

\----

As soon as the _ Crocodile Rock _ scene had wrapped the boys headed off to change into street clothes. Taron passed Richard on his way to his trailer and stopped him, wrapping Richard in a big hug and wishing him well, seeing as he was off to the airport. He had to do some promo stuff for The Bodyguard over in the states and would be gone until the middle of next week. 

The set felt empty over the next few days with Richard gone. It had taken Taron 3 days to realize it was the absence of the other man that was making him feel off his rhythm. The weekend moved particularly slow without filming and Taron found himself unable to sleep. 

_ Taron, 12:40am LDN: “hey Dickie, how’re things going in the states?”_  
_-_  
_Richard, 2:45pm PST: “good, have an interview to pre-tape soon.” _  
_Richard, 2:46pm PST: “wait isn’t it almost 1am over there?” _  
_-_  
_T, 12:48am LDN: “can’t sleep :(”_  
_-  
__R, 2:49pm PST: “miss me that much huh? ;P” _

Taron froze, his heartbeat picking up. There was no way Richard actually knew that he was the subject of Taron’s restlessness, it was only a joke. The two were constantly caught in a flirtatious banter that had Jamie and the others giving them curious glances. Taron blamed getting into character so deeply as the reasoning behind this_ infatuation _ with his very _ male _ co-star. He decided to play it off with a joke of his own. 

_ T, 12:52am LDN: “nah had too many red bull’s today.” _  
_-_  
_R, 2:55pm PST: “ugh, don’t know how you drink those things they’re disgusting.” _  
_-_  
_T, 1:00am LDN: “could very well say the same about that smoking habit of yours” _  
_-  
_ _R: 3:02pm PST: “don’t have the slightest idea what you’re on about” *image attached*_

Taron clicked to load the image in his phone, he didn’t know what he was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t a selfie of Richard with a ciggy between his lips. He was in an open button down shirt with a tank top underneath and leaning on what looked like the balcony of the hotel he’s staying at. Taron bit his lip at the sight, fighting back a groan and feeling his dick take interest in the photo. _“Well_ _that’s a new reaction”_ he thought, feeling betrayed by his body. Taking a deep breath he shakily typed back. 

_ T, 1:06am LDN: “how is it that you can make the prospect of lung cancer look so damn attractive?” _

He sent the message before he could second guess himself, but as he hit send his phone buzzed.

_ R, 3:06pm PST: “hey they’re pulling me for hair and make-up, talk to you later xx” _

Taron groaned, not only was he still awake but his conversation with Dickie only managed to make his problem worse. He turned off the phone screen and tossed it next to him on the bed. A moment later he picked it up and opened up his messages again. He opened the picture Richard had sent and held down on it to save the image to his library. 

He felt dirty for what he was doing but he opened the photo gallery and clicked the image before kicking off the bedcover and sliding his hand into his shorts. The fact that an impromptu selfie from Richard had gotten him this worked up was starting to make him question exactly how much of this was character bleed. He slid his thumb over the head of his dick swiping through some precum and spreading it down, he started to imagine what it would be like if he was doing this in the hotel room while Richard was smoking on the balcony, not 10 feet away, and watching him. That thought pushed him over the edge faster than he was expecting, he slowed his breathing as he peeled off his ruined boxers, and moved to the shower. 

\------

Monday night came soon enough and he was on set filming the _ Tiny Dancer _ scene, they were doing all of the musical shots of him singing and Jamie in the background. During a camera reset he checked the time, Richard’s flight had landed about an hour ago so he should be on his way to set now. 30 minutes later he’s sitting on a tree stump near one of the fires singing _ Tiny Dancer _ and he hears “cut!” followed by “hey, look who’s here.” 

He turns around and sees Richard in a puffy coat just off camera. He gets up and Richard meets him in the middle wrapping him tightly in a hug.

“Ye look gorgeous mate.” Richard tells him. 

Taron blushes at the compliment, rolling his eyes. 

“Hoping I get to nab this jacket when this is all over.” Taron tells him, putting his hands in his pockets more for warmth than anything else. 

Dex calls a lunch break and says that they’ll pick up with Reid and Elton’s first meeting on the deck stairs when they get back. Many of the extras are allowed to leave for the night, and on their way to the craft services tent Richard notices Taron shivering as they get their food. He sees that Taron is heading back over to the tree stump with his food.

“Why don’t we head inside mate, you’re shivering. I know this isn’t a real house but it must be warmer in there even with some open walls.” Richard said. 

“Okay.” Taron followed Richard without question. 

Richard headed over to one of the couches in the first “room” of the house. He takes Taron’s plate from his hands and shrugs out of his oversized jacket, holding it open for Taron. 

“But now you’ll be cold.” Taron argues. 

Richard continues to hold out the jacket until Taron reluctantly puts it on. 

“Guess you’ll just have to sit close enough to keep me warm.” Richard says with a wink.

Taron feels the blush creeping up his neck onto his face, but decides some cheeky retaliation is in order. He waits until Richard is seated on the couch before throwing himself down onto the older man’s lap. He reaches towards the table and grabs their food and hands Richard’s to him without saying a word. He notes that the tips of Richard’s ears have gone pink and he feels satisfied that they’re even on making each other blush. They eat their lunch and chat for a bit, when they finish eating Taron places the plates back on the table and decides that maybe this joke has gone on long enough. When he leans back towards Richard however he realizes that the the other man used the fact that Taron had to lean to his advantage and upon sitting up straight again finds that Richards arm is now loosely wrapped around his waist.

Taron checks the time, still 35 minutes before they’re due back, and if this is the game they’re going to play he’s not about to give up. He lays his head on Richard’s shoulder and closes his eyes while Richard tells him about the annoying fan he was sat next to on his flight.

The next thing Taron knew he was getting smacked upside the head. 

“Oi, assholes we need you back to set.” Jamie was standing above them, and despite his words he had a smile on his face. 

“Technically we’ve not left the set.” Taron counters, nudging Richard’s side to wake him up. 

“Whatever, Dex is looking for you both.” 

And with that Jamie left the two of them. Taron looked over at Richard and the two broke into a fit of laughter before separating and getting up to head back outside. 

\-----

Over the following weeks of filming the three men would often head to Taron’s trailer for a drink to end the night, Jamie usually left after an hour or so, wanting to call Kate and the kids before he went to sleep. Richard would stick around for a second drink or a third and they’d watch some shitty reality television together. 

More nights than not Taron would wake up with Richard in his arms or himself in Richard’s on the couch, the glow of the tv lighting up the trailer. He never brought it up and usually Richard was gone when he got up in the morning so he didn’t really know what to make of it all. 

Months later, towards the last leg of the filming Taron made a move. It was the day they shot the pool scene for 17 hours Taron was exhausted when they got back to their trailers. Jamie had been let off set hours earlier and was already in bed by the time Richard and Taron stumbled into his trailer. 

“Ye look exhausted mate, maybe just one drink and then we’ll call it a night instead of staying up watching the telly for hours.” Richard suggested.

Taron walked past him and face planted on the trailer bed. 

“Who'd've thought staying underwater for several hours of the day would be so exhausting?” Taron groaned into the pillow. 

“If ye just want to go to bed mate, I can go back to mine.” he offered.

“Why?” Taron started, his exhaustion finally lowering his guard enough to bring up what’s been bothering him. 

“What do ye mean, why?” Richard asked, confused. 

“We sleep together on the couch every night, why should it be any different since tonight I want to sleep in my bed.” Taron says, reaching out and patting the empty side of his bed, before rolling over onto his back to look at Richard’s face. 

Richard looked hesitant as he moved to sit on the bed up against the headboard, he kicked off his shoes and crossed his legs on the bed. Taron immediately rolled towards him burying his face back in a pillow and throwing an arm around Dickie’s hips. 

“I wasn’t sure if ye knew that we kept ending up passed out in each other’s arms, seeing that you’re such a heavy sleeper. So I would just leave in the morning when I woke up. Didn’t want to make ye uncomfortable T.” Richard said, reaching out a hand to run through Taron’s chlorine stiffend hair. 

“Ye should probably take a shower and get all that chlorine off your skin, Duckie.” he mentioned.

Taron lifted his head slightly, peering up at Richard to gauge his facial expressions, he noticed the flush that rose on his neck when he realized that he just suggested the man he was cuddling with should take a shower.

Taron groaned into the pillow, he knew Richard was right, his hair was getting put through enough with the thinning and the dying that was done to it, he didn’t need the chlorine in it for another 8 hours. He rolled off of Richard and pushed himself up off the bed walking towards the trailers small shower. Feeling spurred on by how bold he had been already tonight he pulled his shirt up over his head and tossed it towards the basket of laundry at the foot of the bed. 

“I do hope I’m not reading this wrong Dickie” he called over his shoulder “but I’m open to company if you feel so inclined.” 

Richard sat there on the bed, mouth open in disbelief. Taron walked into the bathroom leaving the door wide open, he heard the squeak of the shower door open and the sound of the water as it came on. He must be hallucinating... there was no way that Taron, his very straight friend, just invited him to join him in the shower. 

“Well, are you coming or not?” Taron called from the bathroom. 

Richard shook his head and got up from the bed, removing his shirt as he went. Upon entering the bathroom he was met with Taron leaning against the shower wall letting the spray wash over him. He looked up as Dickie entered and grinned at him. Richard pushed his sweatpants to the floor along with his boxers leaving them in a pile near Taron’s. He stepped into the shower and closed the door behind him. He put his head back under the spray and Taron watched as Richard’s carefully groomed hair became a mess of curls under the water.

He reached up and ran his hand through Richard’s curls a few times before he took hold of them and slammed their mouths together. It wasn’t as if this was their first kiss, it wasn’t even the first time they’d seen each other naked having filmed the sex scene nearly 2 months ago at this point. Still, something about this felt different. Taron opened his mouth when he felt Richard asking for permission to deepen the kiss. Taron took a step forward and then pinned Richard against the wall of the shower. He ran his hands down his sides before settling them on Dickie’s hip bones. He could feel Richards cock against his, both trapped between their bodies he gripped tighter onto his hip bones and thrust up, eliciting a moan from the older man. 

Richard reached down and removed Taron’s hands from his hips, kissing him deeply and lacing their fingers together as he slowly moved them until Taron’s back hit cold tile. He hissed at the sensation and pulled their hands apart, and when he opened his eyes Dickie was on his knees. 

“Dunno if I’ve ever mentioned this T, but your thighs look absolutely delicious.”

Taron’s dick jumped at the compliment, this didn’t go unnoticed by Richard. Richard leaned in and lightly bit one of Taron’s thighs before kissing the spot and repeating the treatment on the other leg. Without warning he licked a stripe up Taron’s cock from root to tip swirling around the head. Taron’s hand was back in his curls in a vice grip now. As he whined out Richard’s name from between gritted teeth. He tried to pull Richard back to where he wanted him but Richard just chuckled. 

“Patience T.” 

Taron loosened his grip in Richard’s hair, he left his hand in the curls but was no longer trying to control the situation. 

“That’s a good boy.” Richard murmured, looking to see if he got an involuntary response from that compliment as well, when he did, he smiled to himself. 

“I can’t wait to get my mouth on your cock, it's just as pretty as the rest of ye.” 

Taron groaned and thrust into the air. Richard finally gave him what he was looking for and swallowed him whole. Relaxing his jaw and breathing through his nose he swallowed around Taron who thrust up into the back of his throat. Dickie pulled back a bit and Taron apologized.

“Don’t worry sweetheart, I’ll let ye know if ye hurt me.” Richard told him. 

He swallowed him down to the hilt once again before pulling back and bobbing along the length of his dick. Taron didn’t last long, between the exhaustion and the sight of Richard on his knees, pretty red lips wrapped around him, he came without warning. Apologizing to Richard as he shot down the other man’s throat. Richard took it with grace swallowing it all down before standing up and letting Taron taste himself on his lips. Taron brought a hand down and wrapped it around Richard’s cock, jerking him slowly at first before increasing the pace, Richard had his face buried in the crook of Taron’s neck, he bit down hard on Taron’s shoulder when he came. 

They stayed there slumped against the wall while they caught their breath, Richard finally stepped back and grabbed some shampoo, washing his hair and then Taron’s as the boy was basically jelly at this point. He took some body wash and quickly cleaned them up before turning off the water that was now running cool. He toweled them off and put Taron in a fresh T-shirt and boxers, before putting his own shirt and boxers back on. When he returned from hanging the towels back up, he found Taron asleep on top of the blankets. He shook his shoulder, waking him just enough to talk to him. 

“Duckie, you’re supposed to sleep under the blankets, yeah?” 

“Too warm” was all Richard got as a response before Taron was sound asleep again. 

He shook his head and laughed quietly, going to the other side of the bed and attempted getting under the covers as best he could with Taron’s dead weight on the other half. Eventually he gave up and slept on top of the blankets as well. 

\----- 

Banging on Taron’s trailer door is what woke Richard the next morning. He looked at the clock on T’s nightstand and noticed they were meant to be on set 20 minutes ago. Taron didn’t have an alarm clock as there was no point to one, he slept through it anyway. Even now with the all the banging Taron was still sound asleep. Though at some point in the night he had wrapped himself around Richard like an octopus. One of Taron’s legs was between his and he had an arm wrapped securely around his middle with Taron’s head on his chest. Needless to say he wasn’t going to be able to get the door. 

There was more knocking on the door, and he heard Dexter’s voice asking what was going on. 

“Dunno, normally Richard calls Taron to wake him up and then I come by and make sure he’s on time.” 

“And you can’t find either of them this morning?” Dex asks 

“Nope, maybe they went out to get breakfast?” Jamie offered half-heartedly. 

Dexter reached out and tried the handle to the trailer, it opened right up. They’d both been too tired to remember to lock it last night. Richard immediately feigned sleep as soon as the door was opened, figuring it was less embarrassing if they both got caught asleep rather than him being trapped by Taron’s limbs.

“You’ve been banging on the door for 20 minutes and you didn’t think to try the bloody handle?” Dex asked, laughing. 

“Oh for fucks sake.” 

Richard heard Jamie say as the two men stepped into the trailer. A moment later an object hit him in the chest and Taron in the face. He opened his eyes as if he was just waking up. 

“What the hell?” He rubbed at his eyes and nudged Taron enough that the boy began to wake up. 

Taron rolled off of Richard and on to the other side of the bed. A mumbled “five more minutes” was heard mumbled from his direction. 

“I should think not, you’re already 25 minutes late for call time.” Dex said. 

Taron shot up at the sound of Dexter’s voice, he looked between Richard, Dexter, and Jamie in his trailer. His face turning bright pink at both the realization that he Richard just got caught in bed together in nothing but their boxers and at least Richard had a shirt on (Taron had apparently taken his off sometime during the night) and that they had overslept so badly that they were now in this situation. 

“Put some clothes on, I expect you both in hair and make-up in 15 minutes, and you better pray they can cover that up.” Dexter said, pointing at Taron’s shoulder where a bruise was forming from Richard’s teeth last night. Dex turned leaving the trailer. Jamie went to follow him but paused by the door. 

“Why am I always the one who catches the two of you sleeping together?” he asks with a grin, closing the door behind himself. 


	2. And My Answer's "Yes" To You Every Time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for all the nice comments you guys!!  
as before this one goes out to my boy Finn, and the rest of the discord who convinced me to start this in the first place!
> 
> also worth noting: while I have a vague idea of the comings and goings of these guys (I read the Bromance Universe fics lets be real I didn't actually do any of the work) I'm not going for accuracy here. I mean I've already ignored the existence of these boys significant others and some of the timeline doesn't work without them (it mostly doesn't work without B, you don't see E around much)
> 
> also just a heads up this chapter pretty much starts with the content that required me to tag "public hand jobs" but the fluff is back right after that I promise! (but not for long..)

Their night together changes nothing about their dynamic.

Despite not talking about it at all, they stay close during the rest of filming. They don't do anything more than have an occasional late night snog before Richard leaves for his own trailer. Following the aftermath of the pool scene, Richard is careful not to sleep in Taron’s trailer again, not even on the couch. Though he curses his responsible side when he has to follow his own rules and refuse to stay even when Taron offers to wank him off if he'll stay for the night.

\--- 

Three days before filming wraps for Taron they’re set to film carpool karaoke. 

The night before filming, they meet up at a pub in the heart of London, one within walking distance of Richard’s flat, and get completely and utterly smashed. Around 11pm they find an empty booth in the corner of the pub and slide into it with whatever round of beers they’re on. It's one of those round booths so they meet in the middle Taron leaning into Richard’s personal space until Richard tosses and arm around his shoulders. Taron shifts so his head is on Richard’s shoulder, careful not to knock off the beanie that is hiding what is left of his hair now that he is in the last days of filming as Elton in his 40’s. 

“Missed you Dickie.” he says quietly. 

“I’ve only been gone a week, T.” Richard replies, the final Reid scenes had been shot and filming had wrapped for him 8 days earlier. 

Taron looks up at him and moves up to press a kiss lightly to Richard’s cheek.

“Still missed you.” he mumbles against Richard’s cheek. 

“Is that so?” Richard replies, looking off into the distance. 

He takes a sip of his beer and slides the arm around Taron’s shoulders down behind him letting it sit around his hips, his hand coming to rest on the outside of Taron’s thigh. He heard Taron’s breath catch. 

“Dickie wh-” 

“Hush, T.” Richard, cuts him off. 

He starts making small talk, asking Taron about the songs they’ll be singing tomorrow, all the while lightly rubbing circles into his thigh with his thumb. Taron’s starting to squirm when a waiter stops by to ask if they want another round. Richard waves him off, saying they’re all set for now and they’ll go up to the bar if they decide that they want another drink. 

Once the waiter leaves, Richard puts down his glass and reaches under the table at Taron’s right leg, gripping his thigh and pulling it over his own leg so that Taron was closer and the arm behind the boy had a better range of motion. When his hand got to the button on Taron’s jeans he paused and looked at him. 

“Is this okay?” 

Taron nodded, he looked wrecked already, his face was pink and his mouth was imperceptibly open as his breathing was laboured. 

“Ye look so fucking pretty right now T.” Richard whispered. 

Taron whined. Richard pulled his hand back down towards Taron’s thigh. \

“Do ye think ye can keep quiet for me?” 

Taron nodded again.

Richard moved his hand back up, popping the button on Taron’s jeans and sliding the zip down. He felt more than he heard Taron holding his breath in anticipation. He tapped at Taron’s hips and without hesitation the younger man lifted his hips slightly and reached down tugging his jeans down just a few inches before returning his hands to the table top, one of them loosely holding his beer.

Richard now having better access simply laid his hand on top of the now exposed bulge in Taron’s boxer briefs. He gave a slight squeeze and heard Taron let out the breath he had been holding. Moving his hand up, Richard slipped inside the waistband of Taron’s briefs taking hold of him, he lazily stroked him, thumb grazing the head every few passes. He was impressed that Taron had yet to make another noise. 

“Ye doing so good for me.” he said, feeling Taron’s dick jump in his loose grip. 

Taron just nodded, sinking his teeth into his bottom lip. Richard noted that Taron flexed his hand before returning it to his beer glass and holding it a little tighter than before.

Richard tightened his grasp and went in earnestly now, he ran the palm of his hand over the head of Taron’s dick slicking his hand with precum and using it to stroke Taron faster. He slowed down a little and he felt Taron slump against him. 

“Ye okay, Duckie?” 

“I- I just- look I want to be good for you but I don’t know how much longer I can stay quiet.” Taron said in a single breath. 

Richard nodded and moved his hand lower, cupping Taron’s balls and giving them a good squeeze before redoubling his efforts. He could see Taron struggling with having to stay quiet and then he thought of something that would push him over the edge. 

He leaned towards Taron and spoke in a low tone.

“Ye doing so good for me T, you’re perfect. I want ye to do something for me though, I need ye to come for me sweetheart. Can ye do that?” 

Taron nodded enthusiastically and tightened the grip he had on his beer glass even further, Richard was beginning to worry he may shatter the glass in his grip. After that Taron lasted only a few more strokes before he was spilling into Richard’s fist, right there in the middle of a crowded pub. Richard reached over for a napkin on the table and cleaned his hand before tucking Taron back into his pants and pulling his arm from behind him, as the boy fixed his jeans back properly. 

“Still miss me?” Richard asks, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Dunno, why don’t you get us another round and I’ll think about it.” T said, adjusting the hat on his head.

“Wanker.” Richard replied laughing, sliding from the booth.

“Based on very recent events I do believe that if either of us is the _ wanker _ here, it would have to be you.” Taron called after him, tongue in cheek with a glint in his eyes.

Richard shook his head with a grin as he turned towards the bar. 

\-----

After filming Carpool Karaoke they part ways and it's nearly a month before they see each other again, Taron having gone home to Wales and Richard now living in LA. It was a surprise reunion neither knowing the other was invited to the UK Land Rover launch of the new Range Rover. 

It was a casual event, Taron wore a denim jacket and blue plaid shirt and when he first spotted Richard he had to do a double take. Richard had on a long-ish wool coat and a scarf but that wasn’t what stood out to Taron, it was the fact that Richard hadn’t styled his hair in a perfectly coiffed way. Taron smiled to himself as pulled out his phone. 

_T, 7:36pm LDN:_ _nice curls, didn’t have a stylist to hide them away tonight?_

Taron watched as Richard pulled his phone from his pocket a moment later scanned the crowd looking for him. He watched Richard’s face light up when he spotted him in the crowd. Richard made his way through the crowd to Taron and wrapped him in a tight hug. 

“Nice hat” he said, when they pulled apart. He reached out, knocking the brim of it with a finger playfully. 

“Well it's a bit cold to have a shaved head in November, turns out.” Taron replied, fixing his hat.

A while later, the car is revealed, photos are taken, and drinks are had, It's shaping up to be a great night. Jetlag is hitting Richard something fierce and he yawns for what feels like the hundredth time that night. 

“What do you say we call it a night?” Taron said, in a hushed tone to avoid being overheard. 

Richard raised an eyebrow at him but made no comments. 

“Yeah that sounds like a great idea mate, I’ll call a car.” 

“No need, I’ve actually got mine here. Decided a drive would be nice and it's only a little over 2 hours between here and home.” Taron shrugged. 

Once in the car, he pulled out his phone, wanting a selfie with Richard while his hair wasn’t perfect. Besides he also needed something to post on social for the event. 

Afterwards, Richard directed him to the hotel where he was staying and he found a parking spot pretty easily. Taron grabbed a bag from the trunk of his car, he always kept spare gym clothes in the car even though he almost never drove to the gym, opting to walk instead. They got upstairs and Richard went to shower, Taron changed into the sweatpants and old drama school shirt that had been in his bag and sat on the bed. He leaned back against the headboard and opened instagram to post the selfie of him and Richard from a little while ago. 

**_taron.egerton_** _Can’t stand this guy. On the way to the reveal of the new @landroverukpr Range Rover Evoque @maddenrichard #liveforthecity #helloevoque @landrover_uk_

So maybe they hadn’t arrived together, but he wasn’t about to post that they had left together either. He heard the shower turn off as he scrolled through his feed, all the while the little notifications of likes were going off at the bottom of the screen. 

He laughed out loud at a comment, typing out a reply as Richard came back into the room similarly dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt. 

“What’s got ye laughing over there Duckie?”

“Just a joke in the comments of the picture of us I just posted.” he said, as he finished writing his reply and handed Richard his phone. 

Richard looked at the picture, god you could see the exhaustion in his eyes. He smiled at the blatant lie in Taron’s caption and then read the comment. 

_ \-- Looks like you have a new “bodyguard” _

_ \-- _ ** _ taron.egerton_ ** _ I’m preparing a cover of Whitney for him @maddenrichard _

Richard rolled his eyes, handing Taron back his phone. 

"when do ye think the bodyguard jokes will die down?" he asks, walking around the bed. 

"depends on if it gets picked up for a second series I suppose." he answers looking over at Richard as he climbs into bed.

Taron turns his phone to silent and places it on the nightstand. He holds his arm up and Richard takes it as an invitation to curl into his side. Richard takes a pillow and lays it on Taron's lap, as he lays down on his stomach he wraps one arm behind Taron's back and the other on the pillow. Taron's hand immediately starts carding through Richards still damp curls. 

"Jetlag has really got you quite knackered huh pretty boy?" 

Richard used the arm not wrapped around Taron to swat at the younger man's leg. 

Taron slides the hand in Richard's hair down to his neck, absentmindedly drawing little swirls across it. Richard turns his head to look up at Taron, he sees that the boy's eyes are closed and his head is back against the headboard. He looks so peaceful like this, the glow from the bedside lamp really accentuating the peach fuzz on Taron's head as his hair grows back in. 

Taron lifts his head and then looks down at Richard, smiling. 

"Penny for your thoughts love?"

"Just thinking about how this is exactly what I need right now. Who else has a best mate that will just lay down and play with his hair when he's jetlagged?"

"I feel like our friendship transcends that of a normal one. I think I mentioned in an interview that you and I sort of fell in love a little bit during filming." Taron says, feeling like he should let Richard know that before he reads it somewhere. 

Richard smiles a sleepy smile. 

"Ye are gonna get the fans all worked up saying things like that Duckie." 

"I know, but it's true though.” Taron says as he returns his hand to Richards hair, twirling a curl around his finger.

“Somewhere along the lines we fell in love with this friendship, at least that’s how I see it." He begins to trail off, leaning his head back against the headboard. He stops moving the hand in Richard’s hair, suddenly struck with anxiety realizing that he and Richard have never really discussed any of this before.

“Aye, I love ye too ye big goof.” Richard says, it's partially muffled as half his face is buried in the pillow now.

Taron let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, and his hand started moving again. 

A few minutes of comfortable silence go by and then Richard reaches up with the hand that isn’t behind Taron and grabs the boy’s wrist, he pulls Taron’s hand from his hair and slides his hand down until he can lace their fingers together loosely. 

“If I let ye keep doing that I will fall asleep and you’ll be stuck like this all night.” Richard says, opening his eyes and smiling up at Taron. He gives the younger man’s hand a squeeze before letting go and pushing himself into a sitting position. 

Taron moved the pillow back to where it belonged and got up to dig through his bag, returning with his phone charger he plugged it in near the nightstand and checked his phone. Richard plugged in his phone as well, climbing into bed while Taron used the bathroom. 

When Taron returned a couple of minutes later it looked as though Richard was already asleep. He shut the light on his nightstand and got under the covers on his side of the bed. Richard mumbled something he didn’t quite catch so he quietly asked him to repeat it in case he was just talking in his sleep.

“I said goodnight T.” 

Taron leaned over and pressed a kiss to the other man’s hairline, surprisingly as he pulled back he felt Richard’s hand come up lightly resting on his cheek. Richard, still with his eyes closed, turned more towards Taron and T took it as Richard wanting a proper kiss goodnight. He leaned back in and kissed Richard softly, this was the first time they’d shared a kiss outside of a heated moment and his brain was going haywire over it. He pulled back and then without thinking pressed their lips together a second time, this one lasting slightly longer but still just as chaste and sweet as the previous one.

“G’night Dickie.” he said, pulling away.

Richard waited until Taron had settled before rolling onto his stomach and tossing an arm around Taron’s middle. A smile graced Taron’s face of its own accord, and as he drifted off to sleep he found himself reaching down and loosely lacing their fingers together as Richard had done earlier.

\-----

Richard wins the Golden Globe and Taron nearly bursts into tears he’s so happy for his best mate. They meet up at an after party and sit in a corner with beers and talk about Richard’s win, the holiday’s and their families and how they’ve only got a few months until it’s a whirlwind of Rocketman press. Richard goes out on the roof for a smoke and Taron accompanies him, quickly checking that they’re alone before snogging him quick and dirty up against the wall before Richard even gets a chance to light his smoke. He pulls back and grins at Richard, reaching down he plucks the cigarette from Richard’s hand and places it in his own mouth he then pulls a lighter from Richard’s pocket and lights it. Taron takes a drag and then coughs, no longer used to the sensation, before handing the smoke back to Richard. 

“Golden Globe Award Winner, Richard Madden.” he says, smiling. 

Richard rolls his eyes and takes a long drag off his ciggy, reaching out with his free hand and pulling Taron close to him. Taron leans his forehead against one of Dickie’s shoulders and Dickie is careful to blow the smoke in the other direction. He tosses the butt on the ground when he’s done stepping on it to make sure it's out. Taron stands up straight and Richard pulls him in for one last kiss. 

“We ought to get back before someone starts asking questions aye?” 

Taron nods and follows Richard back into the party.

Everything goes by quite quickly after that, he does the press junket for Robin Hood and of course everyone is sneaking in questions about Rocketman during them. For such a fantastically large film it's been kept very under wraps and folks are chomping at the bit for more information on it. 

Then it's the Oscars, he isn’t invited but that’s alright because he gets to cheer on Rami and the other nominees from the Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscar party and everything about that is wild to him. Richard isn’t in attendance he’s off working on a secret project that he promises Taron he’ll be able to talk about soon. 

The next time he does get to see Richard is in front of a photographer’s lense with Jamie at the GQ photo shoot. It's the kick off of the Rocketman press junket, they don’t really get a chance for any down time at all during the shoot, and then Jamie suggests they grab dinner afterwards. It's a lovely evening and after a few beers Taron doesn’t even think twice about kissing Richard goodnight when their Uber gets to his flat in LA. 

Richard waves goodbye to Jamie and closes the door of the car, Taron slides into the empty space and looks over at Jamie. 

“Don’t give me that look, we’re just mates that’s all.” Taron starts, defensively.

“You don’t kiss me goodbye, and we’re mates.” Jamie argues

“Well, yeah Jamie you’re married.” Taron replies, and what he says next he will blame entirely on the alcohol in his system. “Also you’ve never sucked me off so it's completely different.” 

“He’s sucked- I- you have to know that means more than “just mates” right?” 

Taron shrugged as the Uber got to Jamie’s place and they both got out. Taron was crashing in Jamie’s guest bedroom for the night, as he lived closest to LAX and Taron had flight to New York in the morning.

Jamie drove him to the airport at 9am both men nursing hangovers, as Taron grabbed his bag and went to get out of the car Jamie reached out and put a hand on his arm. 

“You really should talk to him mate, this isn’t a normal friendship you have going on.” 

“So we’re a little more intimate than most friends, it's not that weird.” 

Jamie just looked at him, not buying whatever nonsense Taron was trying to sell him.

“Look, if we talk about it, it might stop and I don’t want to, no I  _ can’t _ , risk that. He’s my anchor, he’s one of my best mates, and I need that, especially with the chaos that our lives are about to become.”

Jamie took in Taron’s appearance, noting the small amount of panic in his eyes that wasn’t there a moment earlier.

“Just be careful, yeah?” 

“I will Jamie, I promise, see you in Cannes.”

And with that he got out of the car, waved Jamie off and headed to check-in for his flight. 

The next 4 and a half weeks are all a blur and suddenly it's the Met Gala and he’s not prepared. His stylist sends a text that he’ll meet him at his hotel in 2 hours. So Taron wanders down to the hotel restaurant and just as the greeter asks him “table for one?” he spots a familiar grey streak in the crowd. 

“Ah, nope just meeting a friend thanks.” 

He makes his way over to Richard’s table and Richard, who is very engrossed in reading something on his phone, doesn’t even notice Taron. At least not until he’s sat down in the small booth next to him. 

“Ye really should pay more attention to your surroundings old fruit.” Taron says, mimicking Richard’s scottish brogue. 

“Arsehole.” Richard replies, playfully pushing at Taron.

“Oh you love it.” he replies, leaning over to kiss Richard’s cheek. 

The waitress comes over with a glass of water for Taron, and Richard orders his food, as she’s about to walk away Taron stops her. 

“Could you do me a huge favour really quick and just take a picture of us?” 

She agrees and Taron throws his arm around Richards shoulders and smiles at him, Richard smiles back and then it's over. She hands him his phone back and he thanks her, looking at the photo. His heart skips a little remembering the conversation he’d had with Jamie the morning after their photoshoot. They’re looking at each other as if there wasn’t another person within 10 kilometres of them. 

He opens instagram and pairs the photo with a promotional shot from Honky Cat. 

** _taron.egerton_ ** _ Found a mate in NYC. Swipe left to see our Met outfits @maddenrichard _

Richard opens his phone and double-taps as soon as Taron’s post appears on his timeline. He comments the kimono emoji and the black heart emoji and closes the app again. Richard’s food arrives and they chat, Taron steals a few fries from his plate. He gets a text from Jamie about 30 mins after his post that just says “be careful T”, Taron dismisses the notification and steals a few more fries. They part ways to get ready for the night promising to meet up later. 

It’s several hours into the event when they finally get a chance to break away from everyone and talk and Richard has this huge smile on his face. 

“You look like the cat that’s caught the canary Dickie.” 

“Remember that secret project I couldn’t talk about?” he asks, Taron nods. 

“Well technically I still can’t talk about it but I asked if I could tell my family and they said that was fine.” Richard is rambling now. 

“Well, let’s hear it then mate.” the smile on Taron’s face now matching his.

“Ye are looking at a cast member of Marvel’s The Eternals.” 

“Oh my god, Dickie that’s amazing!” he exclaimed. “My mate’s got superpowers, we have to take a selfie to commemorate this, don’t worry I won’t post it until whenever the official announcement is made.” 

Taron makes this is ridiculously excited face and Richard is laughing and the picture is blurry but it's perfect and Taron can’t wait for the day he gets to post it. He puts his phone in his pocket and pulls Richard into a tight hug. While he has him close Richard uses this time to let Taron know he’s found a spot that’s a bit… quieter for lack of a better term if Taron wants to join him for a quick ciggy. Taron pulls back and looks at Richard’s face, judging by the way his pupils are dilated there won’t be much smoking going on once they’re alone.

They go down to the bottom floor where there is a restaurant that is connected directly to a secluded patio. The restaurant is obviously closed for the event and they sneak past the velvet rope blocking it off and slip out the door to the patio. Much to Taron’s surprise Richard does actually light up a smoke as soon as they step onto the patio. Richard sits in one of the chairs out of view of the door, they’re not supposed to be in this area and he doesn’t want to get caught. Taron leans against the wall of the building pulling off his string tie and tucking it in the pocket of his suit, undoing the first couple of buttons on his shirt. Richard smokes about half his cigarette and then snubs it out on the bottom of his shoe tucking it back into the pack. 

The next thing he knows he has a lap full of Taron and he wastes no time grabbing him by his now open collar and crashing their lips together. Taron has to resist running his hand through Richard’s hair and settles for playing with the hair at the nape of his neck instead. Taron has a thought, it's a very naughty thought, but it seems fitting for tonight. He brings a hand down from playing with Richard’s hair and palms at Richard’s half-hard cock through his pants instead. Richard breaks the kiss at that. 

“Don’t start something ye ain’t prepared to finish mate.” Richard warns.

Taron looks him straight in the eyes and places a kiss to the corner of his mouth before dropping to his knees between Richard’s legs. Richard looks down at him surprised, Taron’s never actually done anything other than give him a quick hand job. Richard figured this whole thing they had going on with their friendship was just that Taron was more curious than he was bi, and so he gave his mate a pass at being a pillow princess. 

“Have ye ever actually done this before mate?” he asked, as Taron worked his belt and fly open.

Taron blushed, pink going all the way up to the tips of his ears, he shook his head.

“Was hoping maybe you could tell me what to do?” 

Richard groaned, he’d never really seen himself as the dominant one in any situation until Taron came along. Taron was an enigma, full of energy and confidence, but if Richard said jump he would already be asking how high. Richard just nods at him and Taron continues, sliding the zip of his trousers down and mouthing at him over the material of his boxer briefs. He pulled down the waistband of Richard’s briefs just enough to pull his now nearly fully erect cock free, he wrapped his hand around the base slowly jerking him.

“Okay so the trick of it is to make your mouth as much of an O shape as you can, and obviously avoid using any teeth.” Richard tells him. 

Taron nods and takes a deep breath before wrapping his lips around the head of Richard’s cock, it was a bit saltier than he expected but not bad overall. He took him deeper and then pulled back, he repeated that a few times he swirled his tongue a bit, it was something he enjoyed so he thought Richard may as well. Richard’s hand found itself a home in his hair after that so he was guessing he did something right. 

“Ye are doing so good T, Relax your throat and focus on breathing through your nose sweetheart.” 

Taron did as he was told and found a good rhythm, he choked a little the first time he took Richard all the way in but the second time around he figured out how to relax his throat enough to accommodate.  _ “Oh my beautiful boy, yes.” _ He caved in his cheeks, sucking in earnest now, he can’t believe he’d never done this before it was actually quite relaxing just letting Richard move him with his hair and tell him what to do. And then there was the praise, Taron was starting to worry he may come in his pants without even being touched with the way Richard kept talking. 

“Ye look fuckin’ gorgeous right now.”

Taron shoved a hand down his pants and started jerking himself while he continued sucking Richard off. He took him to the hilt again swallowing around him.

“Such a good job, oh god yes, so pretty ye are.” 

That’s all it took for Taron to tip over that edge, he came spilling into his hand and his boxers. He moaned around Richard’s cock and felt Richard’s hands tighten in his hair, pulling him off. Richard jerked his cock twice before he came, careful not to get any on his or Taron’s suits. He pulled some napkins from his jacket pocket and cleaned himself up, offering some to Taron as well. 

Taron tucked his shirt back in while Richard fixed himself up, tossing the used napkins into a trashcan. Taron sat back on his lap once they had put themselves back together and leaned in for a slow kiss. He pulled back smiling at Richard.

“I’m so proud of you mate, my best friend is a  _ superhero. _ This is even better than James Bond.” 

Richard laughed at that, blushing. He tapped Taron’s shoulder, signaling that it was time for them to go back to the Gala. Taron actually decides he’s going to call it a night and gives Richard a kiss on the cheek before heading out. Of course the paps catch him leaving with his face red and his shirt still undone, hair disheveled. He refuses to answer any questions about the photos that are asked of him. 

\-----

Surprisingly they make it through Cannes with little incident. They were caught a few times whispering together at events, heads together laughing at something instead of socializing but nothing more. He occasionally caught Jamie watching them throughout the weekend but he would send a text his way letting him know that everything was fine. 

The London premiere was more of them same, although Bryce did catch them rightfully going at it on a balcony in the back of the party venue. She laughed and just said “I knew it” before walking away. Neither of them was able to compose themselves in time to say that they weren’t together. They were just best mates, and best mates snog sometimes... right? 

The New York premiere came around and they managed to traumatize Jamie again. The three of them had arranged to share a suite in their hotel to catch up. Jamie’s flight was set to land 3 hours after Taron and Richard’s so they absolutely weren’t expecting him to catch them fooling around on the couch. Jamie had, unbeknownst to them actually gotten a flight a couple hours earlier than originally planned. 

When the boys had arrived, they took a moment to look around the suite, it had 3 bedrooms, a small kitchen area that had a sink, microwave, and mini fridge, and a decently sized bathroom. Despite once again refusing to acknowledge whatever was going on between them, they both put their luggage in the same bedroom, knowing that the third room was for show. Taron headed over to the mini-fridge while Richard made a stop in the bathroom.

When he came out he found Taron sprawled across the couch, the younger man made a grabby hands motion towards him. Richard rolled his eyes but his smile betrayed his true feelings, he walked over to the couch. He leaned down and kissed Taron sweetly on the lips before standing back up and walking over to the window behind the couch.

“We’ve only got another hour and a half before Jamie’s flight lands Dickie.” Taron called to him in a sing-song voice over his shoulder.

“I suppose you’re right… what do you suggest we do with that time?” Richard asked. 

“Dunno, we can do whatever you want to do.” Taron shrugged.

“We could go to the gym.” Richard said, back still to Taron.

“Do we have to?” Taron all but whined. “I said we could do whatever you want to do, and you want to go to the gym?” 

“You did say whatever I want... what if what I want to do is to snog ye on this couch until ye come in your jeans?” Richard asked, nonchalantly finally turning to face Taron.

Taron nodded enthusiastically, Richard could ask him to pull off the heist of the century with him and Taron would have agreed before he even finished asking. 

“That- yes. I would like that.” Taron stuttered. 

Thinking they still had nearly 2 hours to kill Richard took his time, he walked around the couch until he was standing over Taron. He leaned down kissing Taron and pulling the boy towards him, until he was sitting on the couch and Taron was on top of him. He manhandled Taron until he was straddling Richard’s lap. He kissed Taron slowly, exploring him, teasing until Taron couldn’t take it anymore and took an opportunity to grind down into his lap. 

That’s when Richard picked Taron up and slammed him back into the couch cushions, taking control of the situation. He grabbed a cushion and placed it under Tarons head so that he didn’t have to hold his head up the entire time before going right back to attacking his mouth. 

Richard slid a knee in between Taron’s legs and was moving it higher, slowly spreading Taron’s legs apart. When he reached his destination he gave no pressure whatsoever meaning Taron had to grind down against his knee to get any kind of relief. Taron’s head lolled to the side and Richard placed kisses up and down his neck. After about 15 minutes of teasing him, Richard started returning his thrusts and the two of them started to move slightly up the couch with the motion, Taron’s head now hanging slightly off the arm of the couch. 

Richard’s face was buried in his shoulder occasionally lifting to leave sloppy open mouthed kisses on his neck. Taron reached down securely placing both of his hands in the back pockets of Dickie’s jeans squeezing his arse and pulling him impossibly closer. Richard moaned against Taron’s neck and bit down on his shoulder as Taron’s thrusts became more erratic.

“Oh fuck, Dickie I’m gonna come.” 

That was the sentence Jamie heard as he walked into the hotel room, his head snapping up to see Taron’s head on the arm of the couch mouth open as he let out a moan. 

“Ye are so perfect T.” he heard Richard say before another moan rang through the room. 

“So uh, you both just come in your pants like teenagers? or am I misreading this situation?” Jaime said.

Both of their heads snapped towards the doorway. 

“Your flight isn’t supposed to land” Taron checks his watch “for another 20 minutes!” 

“Took an earlier flight, though I am regretting that choice now.” Jamie replied. 

Richard climbed off of Taron and took note that they both had very obvious wet spots on the fronts of their jeans from the come that was currently soaking through their boxers. 

“It's um-” 

“we aren’t-” 

They both went to speak at the same time, but Jaime stopped them raising his hand.

“I know, I know you’re just  _ best mates _ whatever the hell that means. Anyway which room is mine then?” Jamie asked. 

“Aye, it's um that one there.” Richard pointed towards one of the unoccupied bedrooms in the suite. 

“Alright, well I’ll go unpack and give you two some time to, ehem,  _ clean up. _ ” 

Taron blushed even darker and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, replying to Jamie.

“Uh yeah, thanks mate.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Turns out this is going to be longer than I anticipated.  
Also there is actually a small restaurant on the first floor of the Met that does connect to the outside, I've eaten there before.
> 
> The title of the story and the ones of the chapters are all lyrics from the song "What I'd Give" by Sugarland


End file.
